FAU professor’s new book lands on Oprah’s recommended list

Florida Atlantic University associate professor of English Ayse Papatya Bucak’s new book “The Trojan War Museum, and Other Stories” is featured in O, The Oprah Magazine’s “10 August Books You Should Read Right Now." (FAU / Courtesy)

A South Florida English professor is getting some love from Oprah Winfrey’s magazine.

Ayse Papatya Bucak’s latest book, “The Trojan War Museum, and Other Stories” is featured in “O, The Oprah Magazine” as one of “10 August Books You Should Read Right Now" recommendations. Bucak is an associate professor of English at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.

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Published this week by W. W. Norton & Company, the book is a collection of 10 stories that dive into her Turkish roots. Bucak was born in Istanbul to an American mother and a Turkish father and she grew up in Havertown, Pennsylvania.

In one story, “The History of Girls,’’ dead students visit a group of classmates trapped in rubble after an explosion rocks their school. Another story explores how a Turkish wrestler is seen as a hero in the East while also seen “as a brute in the West,” according to the description.

A longtime reader of “O Magazine," Bucak said, “I was thrilled to get their support. I was especially thrilled that they included three books of short stories on this month’s list, as novels tend to get a lot more of the publishing glory.”

She added, “it was fun, too, that this was the magazine’s friendship issue because I grew up watching Oprah in my best friend’s basement - and the joy that my friends have taken in my book coming out has meant as much as to me as the positive reviews have."

Bucak will have a reading of her book 7 p.m. Sept. 12 at FAU’s Student Union 777 Glades Rd. in Boca Raton.